I really don't remember a whole lot about my student teaching experience. I do remember coming home several times and crying on the couch. But I did survive it and went on to teach school for 32 years. Student teaching is where you learn if you are really cut out for teaching. Many pre-teachers quit at this point because they realize this just isn't for them.

There are some tips that will help you start off with a good handle on classroom management. You will be following the CM techniques of your supervising teacher initially but you can gradually bring in some of your ideas to try them out.

* Look and act the part: Whether students listen to you and treat you as the professional you are is dependent on many factors. It's important that you create a classroom persona for yourself right from the beginning. If you tend to dress similar to the way your students dress, change your style. Change your haircut. Looking different from the students helps set you apart. This is especially important if you look younger than you are. You also need to develop an air of confidence and purpose. This is where you may need to do some acting. Practice in front of a mirror. Practice walking with confidence, with your head held high and a determined expression on your face.While you will still be nervous on the inside the persona will carry you through. And after a while it won't be an act anymore. You really will start to feel in control and confident in your abilities.

* Change Focus: When kids are starting to get glassy-eyed, change what you are doing. They have hit their limit of sitting and listening and need something different. If you have been lecturing, put kids in pairs and have them discuss something you've covered. You will need to do this state change about every 10 minutes.

* Reputation and relationships: Life is much easier for teachers once they have established their reputation and relationships with students and staff.You want to be seen as fair and consistent by your students and professional and effective by the staff. Use student teaching to practice building these relationships.

* Smiles: Once you've established your persona of confidence you can add humor and smiles. We all respond well when people smile at us. As a teacher, make sure every student is the target of your smile.

* Pick your battles: There will be an array of issues you would like to improve in your classroom. Divide these into categories and put the categories in order of significance. Let's say you have a student who hums. He stops when you come by and then starts again. Determine if this is a battle you want to fight. You can't fight every battle so you have to learn to make these kinds of decisions. If it annoys you but doesn't seem to bother the kids next to him you might let this go for now. On the other hand, you have a couple of students that you've heard swearing and using derogatory terms for gays and Hispanics. This is a battle you must fight but give it some thought before you just say something. Make sure you approach it carefully and let them know that the language is unacceptable. Your goal should be to get them to stop. If they do the problem is solved. If not you will have to raise the stakes until the situation is solved. So only fight the important battles and the ones you think you can win.

* Be prepared: for possible comments you might get from kids when discussing a certain issue or making an assignment. If possible, think about a comeback statement. For example: "This assignment's too long. There's no way I'm going to do this." Your ready response: "I'm aware that it's a long assignment. That's why I am going to give you some class time today and tomorrow so make sure you get a good start on it."

I hope some of these tips will be useful to you. Hang in there. We need good teachers. Best of luck.

Barbara is a professional speaker, seminar/workshop presenter, staff development trainer with 32 years of classroom experience.
Her book, A Teacher's Book of 10s: Best ways to Do Everything in Your Classroom, will be published in the summer of 2011.

Contact Barbara at http://www.barbaratoney.com